Mid-Week News Roundup -- April 11, 2012

It's a big month for us here at CED: we opened the nominations process for our Board of Directors, announced the CED Tech Venture Conference 2012, and we are looking forward to five CED programs before the month concludes. We hope you'll join us for many of those programs!

We're not the only organization with news, so here's the latest installment of CED's Mid-Week News Roundup.

CNN is reporting that Charlotte and Raleigh are the #1 and #2 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. based on population data from the 2010 Census. Charlotte grew 64.6% to a total population of just under 1.25 million, and Raleigh grew 63.4% to just under 885,000.

All accounts from the Nanotech Commercialization Conference are positive. Dr. Charles Hamner, chairman of the Hamner Institute for Health Sciences in RTP, said that nanotechnology will eventually eclipse the biotechnology industry in size and scope because nanotechnology is applicable across many industries. In addition, conference participants discussed nanotech startup funding, local CEO Neal Fowler of Liquidia Technologies was featured on a panel discussing how RTP can enable more nanotechnology innovation and investment, and Dr. Frank Torti, director of Wake Forest University's Comprehensive Cancer Center, and former chief scientist at the FDA, laid out ten 'commandments' for FDA reform in a keynote speech.

North Carolina businesses are reporting that they plan on adding employees and increasing revenue in the remainder of this year. The PNC Economic Outlook for North Carolina report is summarized on WRAL.com. The Labor Department did release a statement that said employers posted more job openings and stepped up overall hiring in February, despite the disappointing March jobs report.

Bronto Software held the Bronto Summit in Chapel Hill, bringing together many of their clients for a day packed with discussions on the future of e-marketing. CEO Joe Colopy was featured in a recent writeup on WRAL Tech Wire, discussing the company and their growth.

The JOBS Act continues to be a news item. President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law on Thursday, April 5. There's a variety of perspectives on this one, and we will see how it all shakes out. Early predictions are that the crowd-funding provision could be a potential game-changer for startups, particularly ones that work within niche markets and build community amongst their customers and users. What does this mean for life science startups? Our friends at Thompson Hine authored a wonderful overview on the impact of the JOBS Act on capital-raising for startup companies.

Worth noting that the NC Science Festival and Triangle Startup Weekend kick off on Friday, April 13. Organizers are expecting more than 125 participants at Triangle Startup Weekend. Want to observe, but not commit to the full 54-hours? There's a great option to do so, with your observer's pass. Check out http://triangle.startupweekend.org.

The Durham Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 2012 Economic Development Summit on Wednesday, April 18, 2012, with the theme "What's next for Durham?" sure to be addressed. The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce is currently preparing for the 2012 Business Expo. Startups can apply to participate in the new Start-up Alley. The general public can vote for their favorite startup, and the ten with the most votes are given the opportunity to promote their business at the Expo.

In other member news, Targacept, Inc., announced revised top-line results from their exploratory Phase 2 clinical study of TC-6987 in asthma. Axial Exchange, Inc. announced that CEO Joanne Rohde will be presenting at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Texas 2012 conference this week. Rohde will demonstrate how technology can be used to accelerate the results of implementations of hospital projects. Metabolon, Inc. announced the launch of their Disease Metabolism Strategic Outsourcing Program. John Ryals, president and CEO, said he believes the initiative "will lead to better targets, higher quality molecules, faster time to the clinic and reduced R&D risk and cost." DataFlux announced an extension of their partnership with StayinFront. DataFlux will be embedded within StayinFront's life sciences CRM software.

What stories did we miss? Let us know in the comments or by emailing the team.